⚠ No recent data · last reading 52d ago · suspended by the Environment Agency since 18 Aug 2026
0.16
Preston-Le-Skerne
Skerne
Tees catchment
• Aycliffe Village • County Durham • ID: F3705 • Level
(52d ago) • 4 readings/hr • 131 views
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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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EA station status: Suspended (the Environment Agency has suspended this gauge)
Since 18 Aug 2026, in the EA's words: “This station is temporarily unavailable due to an equipment fault. We are working to get the station back online.”
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 18 Aug (53 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
Storm overflows whose water reaches this gauge on the mapped river network, nearest first by distance along the river. The status is each water company's monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, not how much or what it contains.
12 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 7.4 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 12 report not discharging.
Northumbrian Water · into Unnamed Trib Of Skerne · 5.6 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
21 spills · 39 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
3 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
4 other overflows within 6 km are downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so they are not listed.
These are the water companies' monitor statuses; a spill does not by itself explain a change in the gauge level. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels. Explore the sewage map →
Warnings apply to a whole flood area, not necessarily this exact spot. Years before 2006 aren't covered by the EA's historic record.
See also the Aycliffe Village flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 5 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds fairly quickly to rain, with moderate baseflow between events.
Your catchment is all the land that drains rainfall into the river above this gauge. Its character — how
steep, wet, wooded, urban or chalky that land is — decides how fast rain here turns into a rising river. A steep, bare or clay
catchment is “flashy” (rises and falls quickly, floods easily); a flat, chalk or well-wooded one is
slow and steady. The tiles below put numbers to that; the flow-duration curve reads left-to-right
from the river’s typical high flows (Q5) down to its low flows (Q95) — a steep curve means a flashy river.
The physical character of the land that drains to this gauge, and how it shapes its flood response — from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).
Baseflow Index
0.44
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
722 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
4.9%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
14.49 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
23.30 m³/s
28 Dec 1978 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
Daily flow (m³/s) exceeded each % of the time — a steep curve is flashy, a flat one is steady. Q5 high · Q50 median · Q95 low.
Velocity area station with informal low-flow control. Pre 2012 flow regime was influenced by net export of water from Hurworth Burn Reservoir.
More detail
The catchment
Relatively dry catchment mainly on high permeability Magnesian Limestone; almost all the catchment is overlain by superficial deposits, mainly boulder clay. Moorland headwaters; mixed agricultural land use and significant floodplain drained fen peak (carrs) where overbank flood storage may attenuate extreme flood peaks. Just over a tenth of the catchment is built-up. No known catchment changes, other than decommissioning of reservoirs.
The station
Velocity area station. Cableway. No wing walls. Straight approach. All flows contained in channel. An informal low-flow control (steel trench sheeting with reinforced concrete capping) with 1:20 cross-slope and 6m wide, was built in July-August 1978 to overcome weed growth problems. Prior to this, summer low flows could be over estimated by 100%.
How it measures flow
Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record, the most recent is valid from September 1978. Rating by fit to current meter gaugings before and after low-flow control. Very well gauged at high flows - up to maximum recorded.
Flow regime
Hurworth Burn reservoir covers 13.4km2 of the catchment. In the past, there was a small export of water from two headwater reservoirs (servicing Hartlepool) which used to affect low flows. These reservoirs are no longer in use, having been sold in 2012. Minewater additions affect parts of the early record. Up to half of dry-weather flow consists of effluents, mainly sewage.
The flow record
Pre-1978 flows influenced by weed growth; weed growth continues to be problematic. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Skerne at Preston-Le-Skerne flooding today?
The current level is 0.16m, which is within the typical range of 0.14 to 1.40m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
What is a normal level for the River Skerne at Preston-Le-Skerne?
The typical range at this station is 0.14m to 1.40m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.40m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.
How often is this river level data updated?
Readings are supplied by the Environment Agency gauge. FloodRadar checks for updates roughly every 15 minutes; the timestamp above shows how recent the latest available reading is.
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📮 Flood risk by postcode near this gauge
Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands: